Monday, April 21, 2014

Hulk #1

   The beauty of the concept behind the Hulk is that it's very flexible - so with great regularity the series takes sudden turns and moves in unexpected directions.

   So we have had a Hulk who was an Agent of SHIELD, a fugitive, a gangster, a hero and a mindless monster (to name a few).

   Writer Mark Waid may have come up with the most unexpected direction of all.

   The Hulk is, of course, virtually indestructible - and efforts to hurt his mortal side (Bruce Banner) tend to result in an immediate appearance by the big green guy.

   So a mysterious group tries a different approach - they use an assassination attempt to set up an even darker plan. The result is a terrible decision facing a surgeon - and more than a few surprises along the way.

   The new art team on the series is one of my favorites, Mark Bagley, with inks by Andrew Hennessy. Perhaps it's the inking and perhaps it's the subject matter, but this is a grittier look for Bagley, whose style is usually more slick and precise. Here's it's darker, edgier - but strong storytelling as always.  

   With that twist on the last page, it's hard to see where the series goes from here - but I'll bet it'll be well worth following.

Grade: A-

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